DOMAIN

Year: 2017Country:USARun Time:
97 minutes

After a deadly flu epidemic kills most of the world’s population, lucky survivors bide their time in hermetically sealed bunkers located 30 feet underground, where they can interact with select others only by sophisticated video conferencing. Things start to go haywire in this stable environment after a combative denizen named Orlando is banned from his linked community. Residents start disappearing or harming themselves, and odd markers (such as a rat) hint that these pods aren’t as closed-off as they seem. However, it isn’t until Phoenix and Denver (who, improbably, have fallen for each other) decide to make a run for it that DOMAIN’s true mysteries start to reveal themselves. The subsequent unraveling of their situation only creates more questions of what their reality is. Suspense-filled and atmospheric—courtesy of an eerie score and a muted color palette—DOMAIN raises questions about how well we can really know other people. As the bunker designer Nadine puts it at one point: “Never underestimate humanity’s capacity to be punitive.” —A.Z.

Nathaniel Atcheson was born in Oakland, California in 1977. He studied directing at Chapman University. He also writes and edits and is currently an editor on the FX TV shows Atlanta and Man Seeking Woman. DOMAIN won the Best Feature Audience Award at the 2016 Other Worlds Austin SciFi Film Festival.